heroesawakeningfandomcom-20200215-history
2011-04-16: Pirates, Zombies,
It all started at the art museum, when Superboy took that treasure map, or what looked like one. He took the time he was not tutoring Cissie, superheroing or shopping with Cissie, to research it. Using the internet was easy, finding maps to compare, and so on. It took a lot of patience, something Superboy did not have tons of, thus why it took so long to figure it out. Pity they didn't have Robin, it would have been solved in just a few days, instead of a few weeks. Next, it continued when Cissie, Superboy, and Bart slipped out for ice cream. "It really is a treasure map, I'm sure of it! I got a location, and I can fly there. We can rig up some blankets and stuff, and I'll carry us. It will only be oh, about two hour's flight, and we can take a couple of breaks." He won't be able to go as fast while carrying people, though he will discover when it is in practice how much easier it is when he doesn't think about it. Tactical Telekinesis merely requires touch, and it can expand its influence, Superboy just doesn't know how to consciously control that yet. Then the day of the trip, Saturday. It required Cissie coming up with some sort of disguise and some gear to take along, and Bart and Superboy were left to come up with the blanket rigging. Ugh, talk about dangerous! "I'm just sayin'," Bart is saying as he blurs back and forth to different corners of a blanket, which is spread over the ground, and tries to figure out how to approach the job. "I don't wanna be called 'Trainee' forever! I think they're holding out on me. They're probably gonna call me 'Flashboy,' or something, and that would be SO LAME." He glances up at Superboy, grinning some. "Um. No offense?" The disguise really wasn't that hard for Cissie to find although it did take sneaking out with it in her back pack, it being something her mom used to wear ages ago when she did her own gig as a teen archeress heroine, the girl having changed into it sometime between her place and the appointed meeting spot. short skirt, belly-bearing top... yeah, someone's going to so get shot in the butt if they even so much as look like they're staring at her or are about to make a joke. Mask in place, she comes up, bow in hand, quiver upon her back, looking remarkably unlike herself. Well, maybe. "Hey," she whispers, blushing under the concealment of the identity-hiding item she's wearing. "Ready?" A pause then, "Na, I know what you mean. Flashboy sucks, Super anything though? Awwwweeeesome!" Superboy doesn't take offense easily and when he does, generally not for long. He has a true teen's attention span. He works on tying the blanket corners in the metal rings and sewing them in place as well. "Ouch! Hey, how can I poke myself with a needle and not break it?" He grumbles, wondering why his super endurance powers have been acting up lately. He is on another corner by the time Cissie shows up at the meeting place. "OUCH!" Superboy whimpers as he drew blood on that one, sucking on his thumb as he stares at Cissie. "Nice...," he says with a mouth-full of thumb. Darn girls bared flesh distracting him from his job! Bart just grins widely at Cissie's costume. "Cool! You look all superish." He peers at Superboy suspiciously, though, when the needle draws blood. "Heeey, I thought you were invulnerable or something. If a NEEDLE can defeat you, how can you deflect BULLETS or whatever?" He zwip-blurs over to Cissie, stage-whispering behind his hand, "I think he might be losing his powers and slowly mutating into a being of pure energy. I saw it on TV once." Superboy grumbles and says with a mouth-full of thumb, "Don't know, just can." He then narrows his eyes, "I heard that," the words muffled still. "I have super hearing." Blushing a bit more, she takes a moment to scuff her toes against the floor, her eyes lowering and drifting to the side, the girl looking fairly embarrassed. "Told my mom I was going out for the day. Mentioned how I was going out with you," that said to Superboy. "She kind of was all over that idea. Think she's already planning our wedding and what we'll name our ten kids." With Bonnie that is sadly not exactly hyperbole. Shaking herself out of that, she looks at Bart and then back over to the thumb-sucking teen, her eyes wide. "Are you? Losing your powers, I mean. Is it going to be safe flying with you?" Bart's eyes widen at this exchange, and he blurs back and forth rapidly between Superboy and Cissie for a moment. Then he stops abruptly, flailing his arms wide, and bursts out, "Wait what if we fall and splatter on the ground because your powers stop working at the wrong moment or we can't do anything because we keep having to say you or if I break my leg when I fall and I can't run or Cissie's bow snaps in half or something and you two are getting married and have kids!?" "Wedding, kids?" Superboy looks almost pale and shivers, "Your mom is scary!" Least his thumb is out of his mouth though and he eyes it. "It's all healed now." He then goes back to work, more carefully this time, and with his shielding up since he is wary now. "I'm NOT losing my powers, alright? It's just my super endurance does a few weird things sometimes, but rest of things seem perfectly fine. And never once had an issue in combat, and I've been in lots of fights since I've escaped the growth tube. So don't worry!" Superboy then glares at Bart, "We aren't getting married!" He is blushing. He turns back to his work yet again, grumbling beneath his breath. Very embarassed. This time when he pokes himself with the needle, he doesn't feel it. Cissie turns and hugs Bart, trying to get the boy to calm down. "We're not," she kinda echos Superboy. "Just my mom being weird." The speedy one's given a kiss on his cheek and then Superboy himself is approached, he too given a hug and a kiss although the latter for him is not exactly the same level of chaste Bart's was. "I believe in you," she says with a warm smile, sounding rather like Peter Pan when he told Tinkerbell he believed in her although there's a lot less impending fairy death here. "So when are we going?" "Soon as I get this...done!" Superboy is grinning again though cause he got a kiss on the cheek from Cissie. "Alright Bart, Cissie, let's go! I have the blanket doubled up too, to better carry the weight. I carry the rings, and you guys just enjoy the trip. I won't go too fast." He grins at that, seeming quite proud of himself to achieve such a dangerous exercise. Batman would so very much disapprove. Bart looks a little startled by the kiss, reaching up to rub his cheek some. "Oh," he says when the talk of marriage and kids is explained away. "That IS weird." He also seemed unsure what to do with the kiss and hug, but he says nothing of that, instead approaching the blanket with a doubtful air. "Remind me why I can't just RUN there?" he wonders out loud, moving to sit cross-legged near the center of the blanket. She believes in Superboy but this is still a bit unsettling, kind of like getting ready to go hang gliding for the first time. Sure, you know you should be alright but the thought of it is still a bit nervous making. She winks to them both before sitting next to Bart, setting her bow carefuly beside her and then her quiver, listening to the byplay between the others as she works on trying very hard not to throw up due to being nervous. "Cause you might run into something if you are looking up to follow me, and not looking to where you are going? But you can try. I'll still need to carry Cissie." Superboy moves to pick up the rings and floats up off the ground easily. "Don't be so nervous, you flew with me before Cissie." He winks then, "We can fly like that again sometime soon." Oooh, the flirt! "You guys are going to be umm...physically close, but no funny business Bart," he advises. Cissie's his girl, even if neither of them have gotten around to agreeing to go steady, and of course Superboy is a flirt and likely to get in trouble sooner or later because of that. Bart nods seriously to Superboy. "No funny business, right. If I tell too funny a joke, you might laugh too hard and crash!" Bart just smiles brightly as Cissie sits beside him, and he says, "I brought candy if we get hungry along the way." He produces a large bag, though where exactly he had it stowed is hard to tell. "Guess we can't share with Superboy, since he's gonna be up flying." The 'funny business' quip gains Superboy a winkled nose as Cissie scrunches it, smiling. With the flight drawing near, she chuckles softly at Bart and the bag of sugar, it getting her to blink when it suddenly appears from thin air. "Don't eat too much otherwise you'll be sick. If Superboy agrees to it we can stop somewhere and I'll pick us up some lunch." Because being dressed like she is so totally won't get her noticed, you know. "Hey, we can take breaks!" Superboy likes candy. He does wonder if Bart has any idea what he is talking about when her ferenced 'funny business'. But soon enough, he is up into the air with you two without a second thought. He can feel the drag of the blanket, but honestly it isn't heavy at all. He starts to fly up into the air and in the direction that the map indicated. And the map? All in Superboy's head. He didn't think about bringing a copy for you guys. There are about three breaks in there, for candy sharing and bathroom breaks or what not. The three of you make it to the location in Vermont. Both of you are likely freezing from the flight, and the breaks were well-appreciated. He lands by a covered bridge and stream. "This should be it," Superboy says. "Under the bridge. It arrow on it said to go under from the west so...," he points, "That side!" As soon as the trip ends, Bart erupts from within the blanket, rubbing his arms and dancing in place to try to warm up. His lips are tinged lightly purple and his teeth chattering as he says, "Those blankets must've been def-f-f-ective! I don't f-f-feel w-warm at all!" Then, as if he'd never complained at all, he breaks off and follows the instruction under the bridge, dashing away out of view. "We've got to find a way to stay warm," Cissie chatters while gathering her things, goosebumps seen where flesh is exposed. And probably where flesh isn't. Putting her quiver and bow over her back, she watches as Bart goes on ahead, her expression suddenly concerned. "Should we be letting him go on like that," she asks while offering Superboy her hand, waiting for him to tell her what it is she's supposed to be doing here. "Wait for us Bart!" Superboy moves to help Cissie along, holding her hand. "I'm not so sure it is wise." But soon enough, the two are down there to follow Bart. And Bart is a ways ahead strangely enough. Entering via the west side beneath the bridge is strange. First, you enter the darkness of the bridge and then it suddenly becomes a tunnel with floor, with there being no way out. Even when Cissie and Superboy enter, the way out does not appear. Superboy frowns at this, "Freaky...," but keeps walking on, looking at the strange gem-like symbols with alien-like writing along the long walls of this tunnel. Where did the stream go? Bart, running ahead, finds a curious little item at the end of the tunnel. He attempts to pick up said object, which looks like a cut and polished gemstone etched with a strange design, and in the process ends up rubbing his fingertips across the strange symbols in the gem's surface. He notices the glowing that ensues, starting to call out, "Hey, something's funny over here!" The symbols have begun to glow.... Being guided does help Cissie to feel so much better about this but the shakiness isn't shed entirely, especially when they find the tunnel and those odd markings. "Bart, don't touch anything," she tries to warn but it's too late, of course, the boy way too fast for her. Groaning, she tugs Superboy by the arm, trying to get him to hurry, looking around at the various markings at the same time. Superboy lifts Cissie up into his arms and carries her as he runs with his own super speed - not as quick as Bart though - to the end of the tunnel. "Hey, what's that? He looks...hey, doesn't one of the symbols look broken?" And then there is a flash of blinding light! Perhaps it is a good thing that Superboy has Cissie in his arms, because they are falling, as visions become clear again. Superboy starts to float and of course, Bart has a ship mast to run down to get on deck with a crew of very smelly, ugly, scarred up, nasty looking pirates?! About where Superboy and Cissie float there is a flag snapping in the breeze with a pair of white crossbones on a black background. Below ground, pirates are pulling out sabres and black powdered pistols. "Uh-oh," Superboy says. And there is more confusing things too, because Cissie will suddenly find that within her hand is the polished gem shard, still warm against her palm. Bart slides down the mast like a fire pole, flipping off when he hits a yard-arm to shoot along a sail and end up spinning across the main deck to slam into the side of the ship. He ends up sprawled there, dizzy (with little winged Robins swirling around his head, no doubt), and out of it. "Oooh," he moans as he tries to shake his head clear, "I think we hit a speed bump!" The gem is looked at for a second as she tries to get her bearings but what really gets her attention is that sound, the one of men below them talking and preparing for a fight, it seems like. "Put me down," she whispers at the same time she slips an arrow out of her quiver, it nocked but not fired yet. She doesn't want to accidentally hurt Bart or Superboy if something happens to go wrong. Which it seems to have. Speed bump? "I think we hit a ship Bart," Superboy calls down after him, able to easily here Bart. "And they don't sound too happy, but their English is very bad!" Of course it is, English has changed dramatically over the last two centuries. Superboy moves to place Cissie in the way too high crows nest, easily taking the other guy out of it, flopping him about like a rag doll so he droves his dagger. Superboy's arm retracts from Cissie's waiste afterwards as he soon drops down fast, landing with a THUMP and CREAK on the deck, making the pirate in his grasp scream and faint before he drops him. The gem that Cissie has cradled against one hand glows slightly, and warms up a little more, as if trying to communicate something. Bart picks himself up, recovering with predictable speed, and approaches the nearest pirate. "Avast!" he greets the buccaneer, "and yar! Me hearties and me be seekin' passage on yer fine vessel, by gar!" Then, he launches into the even less coherent, "Bilge rats smartly, scurvy dog! Let me talk to yer lubber of a cap'n!" Bart, apparently, (thinks he) can talk like a pirate. Cissie nods briefly to Superboy once she's back on her feet, the gem looked at before she takes a peek at the sight below them. "God, Superboy. What in the hell is he doing?" She cant see much, the sails and masts getting in the way, but she can hear Bart. "What does he think this is? International Talk-Like-A-Pirate Day or something?" Hopefully the pirates will have a good sense of humor otherwise this will become a big fight. Bart didn't say the word 'Parley', and so he ends up having to dodge a cutlass from one very eager pirate! Another calls out, 'stowaways'! The Captain appears on deck and growls out, "Kell 'em all!" Yes, he said kell. Superboy doesn't use his heat vision, as he is wearing his sunglasses as per usual when in 'Superboy gear'. Instead, he is moving about with quick speed and with flying fists to punch at the pirates! One knocked down guy goes to stab Superboy in the leg, but the knife does nothing even to his clothes. Good thing his uniform has some endurance to it, but if one looked closely enough, they would notice a snag in it. Darn, he doesn't know how to repair his uniform! Superboy calls up easily to Cissie, hearing her no problem, "I don't know what he is doing. He sounds funny though!" Bart dodges away from the cutlass, blurring away to end up clinging to the mask, halfway up and shaking his fist. "Belay that codswallop, ye barnacle! Yer captain's a yellow-livered coward if he won't even talk to me, face-to-face!" Sadly, he has not seen any reliable source on pirate parlance. He does not know the ways of French-based non-hostile discussions. Good thing someone out of the three have seen a certain movie recently which just might help their situation. "Parley!" Cissie's crouched down some so might be missed, visually, but she yells so loud that there's no way they won't be able to hear her unless they're deaf. "I call parley! I want to speak to the Captain!" That done, she looks at the gem and rubs a thumb over it, trying to figure out what its part in all of this just is. The Captain seems to think this over, then says, "Ah, jus' kell 'em, we fight a'for they call it! Kell 'em stowaways!" Great, apparently the Captain doesn't rightly care, he is certainly no Captain America! He pulls out a gun from his belt and fires at Superboy. Luckily he has a hard head, cause the bullet just bounces right off his head. "Hey, watch what you are shooting! You might take out someone's eye!" Which the Captain does not find amusing, considering he does wear an eyepatch. Bart scowls at the shooting, and he zwips over to the nearest coil of rope. Grabbing one end, he moves to run circles around the captain, intending to truss him up at superspeed. If this is successful or not, he'll spout off, "Hey! You're cheating! NO FAIR!" Seeing the situation rapidly going to hell, Cissie draws her bowstring back, taking aim for the Captain's hat. "I said /PARLEY/," she screams out while sending the arrow straight for his hat. She is being careful not to hurt the man or Bart but she's angry and tired of the games. Hopefully Superboy will be able to get rid of the troublemakers if her plan to get the crap to stop doesn't work. It half works as the Captain stumbles about and pirates try to dog pile Bart! The Captain falls over, his legs entangled, and his gun flying off. Not that he has the time to reload the one-shot anyway. "Ack, blimey!" "Take them down Speedy Gonzales!" Oh great, Superboy has been watching cartoons lately in his free time. "Ondelay! Ondelay!" Or something like that, he's bad at the bad Mexican impersonation. He moves about, knocking out a number of pirates right there on the deck! It seems the Captain is not about to give up, at least until he looks behind him and realizes his hat didn't just fall over, there is an arrow through it! He then looks at his crew, half knocked out, or being knocked about by a screaming and struggling Speedster from the dog pile. When one pirate gets kicked in the head and falls back, the Captain gives in. "'ery well! Parley!" He is struggling to get untangled and stand up, to keep his pride in tack. His pirates are moving back from Superboy and Bart, the few still conscious, appearing anything but happy. Bart, still half entangled with pirates, scowls angrily at the captain and says, "You better parley, or we're gonna kick your butt from here to the space age!" He grumbles, squirming and rummaging about, "I gotta have a reset token somewhere. I think we're back in the game!" Whatever that means is left completely up to the others to sort out. "Superboy, can I get a lift down to the deck please?" Cissie's request is quickly followed up with the beginning of her speech, it directed to the pirates as a whole instead of just to the Captain himself. "I understand that we're stowaways on yourself and we're truly sorry but we came to be here against circumstances beyond our doing. We will explain as much we're able to once I get down." Bad thing about not being able to fly or run fast. Got to hitch a ride. Course, the Captain can't make out anything Bart says and scowls as another pirate steps forward to help his Captain get free of the rope so he can stand up, smooth out his clothes, pick up his hat, and scowl at the arrow. Superboy then flies up to get Cissie, holding his arms out for her. Once he gets Cissie in his arms, he steals a nuzzle to her cheek, giving her an impish grin before setting the two of them quickly on the deck in front of the pirate. The Captain eyes the flying, having missed it earlier. He grunts, "Ye no make sense girl." He then glares at Bart before pointing to Superboy, "Ye talk!" It's an order. Superboy scowls at the Captain, not liking him in the least. "Talk." The smart ass, but after more glaring with the Captain, he finally really talks, "We were sent here, but...a powerful artifact." Ya, artifact works! "Magic." He nods as magic sounds good. He then whispers aside toward Cissie, "Where's that object you had earlier?" Bart, still trying to squirm free of pirate grasping, calls over to Superboy, "Hey! No time for love! We've gotta kick these pirates' butts!" He still doesn't seem to fully grasp the concept of "parley," unfortunately. "Yeah, magic! So you better do what we say or we'll put spells all over you!" Cissie does not like being spoken to but she allows Superboy to take charge, it giving her time to help out Bart who seems to get the short end of the deal. "Stick with popcorn," she advises lightly while smiling. "Easier to get out of binds if popcorn's involved. Are you alright?" Bart will be brushed off and given a quick checking over, that same kind of attention turned to the clone although she doesn't go as far as to brush him off while he's dealing with the pirates, only moving close enough to hand him the gem. Superboy tries to take the gem from Cissie, but it suddenly teleports from his gloved hand and returns to Cissie's hand! His own eyes widen. The Captain's eyes widen, and his pirate crew gasps and cringes in fright! "Aye! I know wha' ye want." He doesn't like it, but the Captain knows. Hey, didn't he say blimey earlier which is British? Why is he saying something Scottish now?! He grunts and nods, "I go git it, hold on ye knickers." There is that British again! He goes to climb down the ladder to the below decks, to get the item that is causing all the choas. It has given him great luck so far, but he knew he couldn't hold on to it forever. The item promised him assistance in his career choice, if he promised to hand it over when the his knights arrived. The Captain will keep his word, but he doesn't have to like it. Superboy watches curiously, then asks Cissie quietly, "What's knickers?" "Ohhhhh," Bart says, as if total understanding of the situation has dawned upon him with the brushing-off of his uniform. "It's a DIALOGUE quest! I totally didn't realize that 'til now. That explains these really high-level adds." He chucks a thumb at the pirates, then leans over to Cissie. "I think you're winning, though." Their reactions has Cissie boggling but she doesn't say anything to any of the pirates, not wanting to risk the Captain's ire. When she does speak it's to her companions. First to Superboy, "Knickers are what a girl wears under their skirts," she gleefully points out, and then she looks oddly at Bart. "How do you figure that?" She didn't do anything but get the fighting to cease while Bart and Superboy were kicking butt and taking names. In her book, they are tied for first. "I don't have any, do you want to share yours?" Superboy grins impishly at Cissie. He then hrms toward Bart, "I have no idea what you are talking about." Video games was not in his education and he has yet to play any. Gasp! It will take a little bit longer before the Captain returns, and the other pirates are glaring and grumbling to one another as they stare at the three young heroic knights. Bart answers cheerfully, "Oh, well, since we couldn't beat them up but they gave up when we said the right thing, only makes sense that it was a--" then he cuts off, turning to stare at Superboy, blinking. "But, if you did that, then--" he stops, changing gears again, to ask in bafflement, "wait, you wear skirts?" Bart, so confused. Panties. Superboy and... "No." Clearing her throat, she does the only thing she can think to do, that being to cover Bart's ears so anything potentially innocence-rending that might leap out of Superboy's mouth. Cissie, shooter of pirate hats and the protector of chasity. How she got signed up for both jobs is beyond her. Superboy awwws, then laughs at Bart, "You don't want to know, you're too young." Not really, Bart just doesn't think that way. His laughter halts however, as the Captain comes back up with a gem in his hand. Cissie's gem starts to glow and become warm, seeming to throb with a strange vibration. As the Captain holds the gem shard out to Superboy, it teleports away before Superboy can reach for it and appears in Bart's hand. "Oh,...," and then suddenly the 'knights' teleport away before the Captain or pirates can say anything more, leaving them all very confused. "...darn," Superboy says everyone reappears in a new environment. It looks apocalyptic, the buildings crumbling; cars overturned, and no real 'noise'. At least, until the zombies start moaning and the skeletons start to clatter their bones as they seem to all turn and stare unseeingly at the group. Cissie and Bart will notice that their gem shards with mystical writing are both glowing and vibration, seeming to tug them toward the north. "Umm...guys, I think we are in trouble." Fortunately, Bart won't think to argue about his age thanks to Cissie's ear-covering. Then they teleport, and Superboy declares his fear of their potential being in trouble. "Yeah," Bart agrees. "They forgot to give us zombie zappers!" Apparently, teleporting to a post-apocalyptic, zombie-infested future doesn't phase him as much as it should. He holds up his crystal and says, "Hmm. I think this might be a guide of some kind! We should follow it, and maybe we'll get some gear." "Oh ew," Cissie exclaims while looking around, missing the fact that her's is doing the glowy-shimmy-shake as well thanks to the fact that she's a bit startled by the zombies. "Huh?" Looking at her gem now, she nods and tugs on Superboy's arm, her fear getting the better of her. "Fly Bart and me in that direction please," she says quickly while pointing off in the right direction, wanting to get off the ground if it is possible. Fortunately, Bart won't think to argue about his age thanks to Cissie's ear-covering. Then they teleport, and Superboy declares his fear of their potential being in trouble. "Yeah," Bart agrees. "They forgot to give us zombie zappers!" Apparently, teleporting to a post-apocalyptic, zombie-infested future doesn't phase him as much as it should. He holds up his crystal and says, "Hmm. I think this might be a guide of some kind! We should follow it, and maybe we'll get some gear." "Oh ew," Cissie exclaims while looking around, missing the fact that her's is doing the glowy-shimmy-shake as well thanks to the fact that she's a bit startled by the zombies. "Huh?" Looking at her gem now, she nods and tugs on Superboy's arm, her fear getting the better of her. "Fly Bart and me in that direction please," she says quickly while pointing off in the right direction, wanting to get off the ground if it is possible. Superboy appears very much grossed out. "Their flesh is rotting off, and ugh!" The are shuffling toward the three of you, and the skeletons move a little faster. Superboy starts to move! He puts an arm about Cissie's waist and then one against Bart's waist - if he holds still for it - and soon lifts up into the air. The drag of gravity is there, but for some reason, not as much as it should be. Superboy is using his Tacticle Telekinesis powers sub-consciously again. He starts to fly toward the north. The creatures start to shuffle/walk depending upon the mystical creature, after them. There are a /lot/ of them too! Bart is easily lifted, since for once he's not eager to run off. He even notes, totally at odds with the grossness and danger of the zombies, "Hey, this is a WAY better way to fly!" Yeah, he seems pretty oblivious to peril in general, especially when it's aimed at him. This is a lot better, Cissie agrees mentally but outwardly she is too stunned to say anything. First pirates and now this? Reaching over, she goes to try and take Bart's hand with hers closest to him and then she reaches down with the other to rub it against Superboy's arm. She is so going to need comfort food after this. She can eat after this? Superboy's stomach is rolling! He has enhanced vision don't forget. He really tries not to look at it. "Alright, you guys got to lead me. Where am I going?" The gem is pulling at both Bart and Cissie, toward what looks like Times Square - or once was it. It has a raised platform in the center, with tons of zombies and skeletons upon it. Though there is what D&D fans would call a lich in the center of it, sitting upon a throne. With Bart mostly pointing out directly, Superboy with his super vision suddenly declares, "There is one of those green thingies in that ugly guy's crown!" Wait, which ugly guy? "Superboy, he's a boss fight!" Bart announces. "We've gotta take out his minions or they'll attack when we try to battle him, and then we'll be SCREWED!" He's all but bouncing around in Superboy's grip (and Cissie's, for that matter) at this point, trying to point at the Lich and its crown and hang on to his crystal at the same time. There's a blink and then a groan from Cissie who sounds a bit ill herself. Okay. Forget the comfort food. She's going to need some of 'the pink stuff ' by the time they're done here. "Uh... wait, boss fight?" She isn't much of a gamer herself but dammit, she sure knows what that means. "I'll hellp with the... uh, adds. You take out the big nasty lich guy, Superboy. Bart you do your thing. Run around them and confuse them but be careful. I don't want to shoot you by accident." Looking around, she points out a clear spot. "Drop us off there, Superboy." Superboy does listen to Cissie, but verges a little more to the right. "Here." He soon sets his feet down on a tilted building, testing to make sure it isn't going anywhere by jumping up and down on it a couple of times before setting Cissie and Bart down. "You should be able to reach the zombies with your arrows from here Cissie," least he has seen a zombie movie. "Aim to the closest side, and Bart can aim to stay on the farest side so there is no risk of you shooting him. If you shoot me by accident, well, it will just bounce off anyway," not sounding particularly concerned. "I'll aim for the big nasty guy, and what's a lich?" "Good plan!" Bart declares, but he doesn't wait around for the discussion. He's gone with a *ZWIP* and a little crackle of electricity, and then he's nothing but a swift breeze and vague blur, shooting amongst and between the zombies as he tries to trip them up, muddle their movements, and generally screw with them. If he's lucky, maybe he can even get them to attack each other! "Lich. Usually the one who controls undead, if I recall correctly. If you take him out the zombies and stuff should go away." Or so she hopes. It's how it works in the movies at least so maybe that's how it'll work for them here. Cissie gives Bart and Superboy both a worried look before she takes to a knee, bracing herself on the edge of the building. "Pirates and now this? Ugh. Why us," Cissie half-wails in lament as she pulls free an arrow from the quiver, it then quickly shot. Superboy blinks, "Wow, that was...quick." He then nods to Cissie's answer and gets hurrying off with a wush of air! He charges down to the platform. "Hey, ugly! Ya you! Watch where you are pointing!" Of course, Superboy is pointing at the lich king to begin with. He stands with his feet braced apart all dramatically. Course, he then goes, "Oops," when tons of skeltons start to charge him with a number of zombies too. "Gross, no touchie, no touchie!" Superboy goes charging toward the lich king, and ends up getting stripped up by a bunch of bones, rolling head over feet until he lands on his rear. "Ugh, what was that?" He is only a few yards in front of the lich king now, but is suddenly piled onto by a bunch of magically enhanced skeletons. Bart is doing better it appears, tripping up a bunch of smelly, rotting zombies and skeletons, causing bones to scattered - hey, so those are where those bones Superboy tripped over came from! - and generally cause mass chaos on the platform. Cissie is keeping her eye out on them both as much as she can while also taking aim, a one-man volley of arrows made to shower down on her half of the undead which hits some of the zombies and skeletons, the latter less harmed by them than the former are. "Stupid undead." Sniffling indignantly, she notices Superboy's plight and sends a few arrows in that direction. Hopefully this will end soon as it's already getting to be a strain on her arrow supply. "Ew ew ew ew ew!" can be heard echoing from around the area, the sound moving much more slowly than Bart and somewhat distorted by Doppler effect. He eventually ends up hanging back, holding one hand over his nose. "They STINK!" he declares, and then he starts picking up handfuls of gravel and debris, peppering the zombies with it at superspeed. It might as well be bird shot from a shotgun. A couple of skull heads crack at the impact of the peircing arrows, the only real damage any of them can do. It causes the skeletons to fall apart though, and anyway, soon enough, twin red lights come out from the pile of skeletons and scatter them. Superboy leaps up, floating in the air and shivering, "Nightmares...going to have nightmares for the first time ever, I swear." He holds his red sunglasses in one hand. The lich king speaks an arcane language, and zombies are going to try and grab at Superboy's ankles! Zombies get holes in them, some get arrows, it takes a decent amount of damage though before their magic starts to fail. But it keeps them occupied, and it is sorta funny to see some zombies falling off the platform as they try to get to Cissie, going squish and splat as they fall down that long way! Now that is gross though! "Ew..." Cissie echoes Bart, her voice quivering. This really is too much for her to stand but she's trying to be brave, the nausea and fear pushed to the side as she tries to back up. "Get the lich," she shouts out, trying to remind Superboy of what he's supposed to be doing. "And hurry up! I'm running out of arrows." She mutters to herself as another of those rapidly depleating bits of ammo is sent through the eye of an ascending creature, it falling atop of several others below it who were trying to do the sme thing. Bart, of course, has become totally lost in his randomly zig-zagging path of zombie carnage, peppering them wantonly with gravel and giving them swift kicks where the opportunity arises. By this time, he's moving so fast as to be effectively invisible. "Whoo, where did that breeze come from?" Superboy even missed Bart, giving his rear end a rub. But he hears Cissie's call for help, and notices the zombies have all stumbled back after whatever breezed by him. He then moves to tackle the lich king, ignoring it's inhuman cry of outrage! His sunglasses had been placed back on his face. As the two start to struggle on the ground, Superboy bunches at the thing's chest and it goes right through! "Ugh! I think I'm going to throw up!" But the lich king stops moving, and Superboy frees his wrist and fingerless gloved hand, waving it energetically to get the nasty stuff off. Course, that is when the shard starts to glow and suddenly appears in his wiggling hand, causing him to instictively grab for it. It burns away the nasty gooey stuff that Superboy does not wish to identify. "Hey, I got...!" Suddenly the team starts to teleport again, and appears in the middle of a Victorian Age party! "...it!" Superboy suddenly shuts up when everyone stops dancing on the dance floor, and the orchestra stops playing. They are staring at the visible teens. Cissie's still got her bow drawn, an arrow nocked and the string pulled back. "Oh... no," she whispers at the new scene. Sure, there are no more icky things to contend with but now? She has a weapon drawn in the middle of a party and the people are dressed like those from an era where duels were still carried out if one bore offense. Quick to lower it, she looks around, worried. "We're just... uh, passing through! Ignore us." God, please ignore them! Bart ends up sprawled on his own posterior, once again looking dazed and dizzy. Stupid pillar wasn't there before! Rubbing his head, he asks, "Hey, what's UP with this? This isn't any kinda game I ever played! They're all dressed like... I dunno, weirdos!" There is some whispering: "They talk so strangely, are they Americans? How did they get there? Who are they?" Superboy just looks lost and confused, "Umm...," he doesn't know how to answer this! Sure, if you asked him what the Victorian Era was he could give you a textbook answer, but identify a random situation without a firm foundation to base it on? No way. The group is soon saved, they think anyway. A woman with a beautiful necklace on that looks interestingly like a shard that matches the other three steps forward. "Our entertainment ladies and gentlemen! Though they appear to be in the wrong outfits." She claps her hands twice rapidly. "Come along, and I shall show you the changing rooms before you start your performance." She starts to lead the way, expecting the three teenagers to follow her immediately. And Superboy does stand up to following, wondering about why her skirt is so huge, but liking the low cut front of the dress. The gem shard in his hand glows slightly and is warm. It seems to tug him to follow the woman, and Superboy isn't complaining! Least not right now. The blonde follows dutifully along, blissfully ignorant to how Superboy's attention is on the lady's chest, it something that'd undoubtedly invoke more insecurity on her if she were to do so. "What is it you wish us to do, ma'am," she asks politely, the arrow returned to the quiver. Well, at least this seems to be a lot less dangerous than the previous situations they've been in. The woman glances at the gem shard in Superboy's hand as she then opens a door to escort everyone inside. "Perform something for my guests. If it pleases me, I shall give you a gift in return and not call for your arrest," her tone a little more cool. There is something about her, something...a little frightening now that she is away from the crowd. Bart seems increasingly suspicious of this situation, skulking along as though he could hide anywhere here if he tried. As they follow along, he leans over to Superboy and whispers furtively, "I think I'm starting to get it. This place must be full of VAMPIRES!" As always, he'll find a video game explanation for everything. Superboy blinks, "Vampires?" That is stated too loudly. The woman makes a soft sound of disgust, "Whatever you choose to enact, vampires or whatever. Just pick something." She shoos the three of you into the changing room and says, "I will expect you three out shortly," and closes the door as she takes her leave to return to the party. Superboy frowns a bit, "She left." He starts to look about. It is a costume room! Tons of costumes. He picks up a pink ballerina one and holds it up, making an ugh expression of displeasure. "At least I know gymnastics," Cissie whispers to herself while looking around. "But what about you guys? Oh, maybe you two should show off your powers. Hurry up, get dressed!" Kind of scared about what'll happen, she snatches the ballerina costume out of Superboy's hands and goes to duck around something, a little privacy sought out so she can hurry up and change. "Come on!" Bart pretty much dives into the costumes. Articles of clothing fly, and a bit of blurring and cloth carnage later, he re-emerges, now resembling some kind of Roman gladiator, except the outfit is WAY too big. The helmet is huge, the straps hang off of him, and the sword is nearly as big as he is. "I'm ready!" he declares. Superboy picks up the pink tights and soon tosses them over the paper changing wall for Cissie to use, along with the slippers. "What are we supposed to do anyway? Some sort of show right? Cops and robbers?" He starts zipping about the room at an inhuman speed, going through things, tossing things about, getting some clothes thrown atop his own head by the even faster Bart. He finds something that looks like a vampire outfit. "Well, vampires can fly, right?" This is going to end horriably likely. But Superboy starts to change quickly while Cissie his hidden behind the thin screen. He just throws the vampire stuff over his own stuff, since it is a huge cloak with hood. "What am I going to do for fangs though?" Cissie emerges slightly after the boys get dressed, looking a bit put upon. "Hmm. I don't know," she admits after looking at Bart who is given a smile of approval. Hugging him and then kind of clinging warily to the clone, she takes a second to compose herself. "Just wing it." She shakes her head and smiles, tripping over herself as she prepares to exit the dressing room. "Just try to act like you know what you're doing. That way you can say you were messing up on purpose if something goes wrong." "I an be the hero who fights the vampire," Bart suggests brightly, beaming at the hug. "I know how to use a sword. Well, in a video game, at least. It can't be much different in a play, right?" He looks at Cissie thoughtfully. "Maybe you can be, um... a princess or something?" "Sure, sure, and I can just hiss without fangs. It will work." Superboy smiles brightly. This will be epic fail. But certainly fun. "Umm...we should likely better hurry." He starts to lead the way out of the room and after a moment of X-Ray vision, he hooks his glasses to his belt so he isn't wearing them - they aren't real vampire-like after all - and heads toward the ballroom once again. "Sounds good to me, Bart." Cissie goes to take the younger boy's hand while following Superboy, wanting to stay together as much as they can. The gem she was 'given' is still in her hand and her bow and quiver worn upon her back as always, it ruining the effect of the costum she's wearing but she doesn't care. Unlike the others who have powers, Cissie relies on them to be of any help. Bart's got the giant prop sword strapped to his back, so one hand is free to hold his gem while the other clasps Cissie's. He too has worn the costume over his usual outfit, making for a rather silly sort of attire, but he's cheerful enough about the whole thing. Oh gawd, this is going to go badly. Least they will have something to gossip about for weeks and weeks. As the teens enter the ballroom once more, all eyes turn to him once more. The hostess? She sighs and rolls her eyes dramatically as if about to faint. But she then waves a hand dismissively. "Start your performance." Her smile is tense though, as if failure to do well, will result in punishment. Superboy holds his own gem fragment in one gloved hand, feeling the warm that has started once again through his glove. But he then nods, and enters the room a little more and to the side before turning to face Bart and Cissie. There is a look of panic in his eyes for a moment, he has no idea what he is doing! But then he gets an idea! Superboy starts to float into the air and hisses at the two of you, his arms raising slowly, one hand's fingers out in a claw-like motion, reaching out toward the two of you. "I vant to suck her blooood, give her to me!" You know, his back acting skills would normally have people bored, laughing, or rolling their eyes. But considering he just floated off the ground, two young ladies let out a squeal and faint dead away in their escort's arms. Looking at the woman and sighing herself, Cissie rolls her eyes upward, praying silently that this will work. Thankfully Superboy starts things off, giving her something to play off of. "Oh no. Please not that. You have to save me, my heroic knight." Ducking behind Bart, the routine just might be dramatic if it wasn't for the height difference between the two, Bart at least four inches shorter than Cissie who is trying to use him as a shield. Bart steps in front of Cissie as gallantly as he can, drawing the prop sword and brandishing it, two-handed, at Superboy. He says loudly, if not especially convincingly, "Never, Count Von Suckula! I will defend Princess Cissie, and we will defeat your evil fangy vampireness of, um... bad bad evil!" He has enthusiasm, at least. Superboy blinks, "Suckula?" His words whispered. But then more loudly, "Ah-huh! It is SuperDracula to you human!" He starts to swoop down toward Bart with a growl, as if trying to snatch at Cissie! "The Princess shall be mine! Hahahahaha!" Several people in the front start to boo while another group giggle, the silliness of it all getting to them. This worries Cissie who takes both reactions to mean they're doing horribly. "Oh no! Whatever will I do," she exclaims with a melodramatic toss of a hand to her forehead, the other held out so she can be snatched up by the vampire. Bart better be on the ball or the poor princess will be in great peril! Bart leaps forward, swinging his fake sword wildly with both hands. Of course, this also makes the helmet flop forward so he can't see what he's doing. "StuporDracula! Get your grummy fangs away from that princess or I'll smite you mightily with my blade of super-princess-protection!" This, of course, mostly draws a mixture of mild laughter and titterings of mild confusion. Superboy jerks away, but not without getting wacked in the arm accidentally, floating backwards, "Hey," he hisses quietly. "Your strikes harm me not at all! You are weak, with mortal coils I will soon strip from you. Come away with me Princess, and I will give you an everlasting night!" He grins winningly, trying his best to look very handsome. It actually works on a few women in the crowd, as the smile and flush, waving their fans as they gaze at the Vampire. The men are not finding Superboy very amusing however, not at all. "Grab me by the arms," Cis hisses quietly to her fellow would-be thespians, her direction hopefully quiet enough to be missed by the audience. "No, no, never..." she exclaims in a falsetto voice, that getting one boy to guffaw. "I will never go with you. My knight shall save me!" Hopefully they'll catch on and snag her, one arm for each, so a 'tug of war' can follow afterward, a war between two opposing 'forces' in a quest to see who'll win the princess' hand! Bart is game enough for the tug-of-war, nearly abandoning character completely as he snags one of Cissie's arms. His sword even clatters to the floor, and he calls back, "Neeeever! Night time is made of FAIL! The Princess wants to come with me to the DAY TIME!" Calling Bart an actor is kind of like calling the Joker a comedian, really. Kind of a poor comparison. Superboy moves forward with unnatural speed and causes the crowd to gasp in surprise and fright! He growls and hisses, sorta funny doing both. he grabs Cissie's arm, "The Princess say be my Queen of the Night! She shall rule zombies and umm...skeletons! Ya!" The pseudo-princess starts to tug back and forth, making it look like they're pulling her during a heated battle for her, her hair whipping about as her head is tossed side to side. "Oh no, no! Please not that! I would rather die than go with you, you... you LEECH!" Gasps come from the audience as a whole. Did she just say that? Now for the grand closing. "Superboy, let Bart run you through and win the day," she hisses under her breath to them both. Hearing this, Bart snatches up his sword from the ground and moves to thrust past Cissie with the fake sword, trying to shove it into the depths of Superboy's cloak so it looks like the pseudo-vampire has been run through. "Ha! Take that, you blood-sucking fiend!" Then, his helmet slumps forward over his eyes again. Superboy snort, "Man, I should have been the hero," he grumbles. But he doesn't disobey Cissie. Superboy lifts an arm for the attack and it slides into the cloak, pushing it through the underneath empty area of his arm. He lowers his arm to catch the sword and falls down, gasping, "You....curse you....may you....never know the sunlight as I have...or the warm touch of a girl...," he coughs and sputters, really, he blows air between his lips, almost making it sound like a fart. A couple of younger men snicker. He wiggles about on the floor and then gasps before 'dying', eyes closing and his head moving to the side. The hostess? Her lips are twitching between a snarl and an amused smile, she doesn't know what to do! Cissie flings her arms around Bart and kisses him soundly, a peck that is accompanied with a loud, comically *SMOOCH!*, that being something she'll make up for when Superboy and her have a chance to... nevermind! "My hero!" She then turns to the audience, bows, and flourishes. "The end!" She doesn't wait for the boys to follow suit. She just stands there, her eyes wide, face pale. Bart looks a little confused by all this, especially the kiss, but he picks up fast enough to give a big bow, though a bit too low. The helmet slides right off his head to land on the floor with a loud "thump." Superboy leaps up, twirls the long sword within some of his fingers and bows dramatically, but late. He then grins that wonderful grin of his. The hostess narrows her eyes, and then shakes her head. "You are all idiots," and she sighs as people gasp, "but funny ones." She smiles gently and moves forward to the three of you. She then reaches up to remove the gem from her necklace and holds it out toward the three of you. "My family has protected this gem for generations. I have no idea why the gem chose you three, but I suppose it has its reasons. You have my blessing." And then suddenly the three of you teleport away, with the four pieces of the gem, leaving a hostess behind to spin one hell of a tale! The three heros will find themselves in their normal clothing, with all gem pieces missing from their hands. Instead, they appear to hover before the three teens, merging together into one diamond like piece. Fusing into one solid piece! It glows and seems to vibrate, warmth coming off from it. The symbols etched upon it seem to move and come alive. Suddenly, the darken area glows and everyone finds themselves in a cave with no exit. A 'voice' comes from the diamond-shaped gem. "Greetings, good heroes. You have all responded to my need, returning me to my whole self once again. Long ago, I was shattered by an evil sorceress when I refused to share my power with her. I managed with the last of my power to shatter my shards to different time periods so she could not find me and planted a clue for a hero to discover and save me. In return for this great service, I shall offer you all special gifts." Superboy asks, "Is this for real?" Looking scared at first and then awed, Cissie listens to what the gem relates to them, that after she recovers from the shock of being in the previous scenerio. She thought they were going to all die, for real! When the gem's story is over she blinks once, trying to keep tears from falling but one gets the better of her and runs down the outside of her mask along her nose. "A gift," she asks while reaching up, wiping at her eyes to get rid of the last of those pesky things. "What kind of gifts?" She looks from Bart to Superboy, back to Bart and then to the gem, confused. "Gifts that you need," the gem says. "Gifts that will pave the way to the future," it continues. It twirls at it hovers in the air. "Superboy, you are now an emancipated teenage boy known as Conner Kent," the diamond-shaped gem says. An identification card suddenly appears in Superboy's hands. "You will go to the same school as Cissie now. You will have your chance to adapt to human society, as you so dearly wish." The gem starts twirling faster, spinning 'round and 'round, "Cissie, you shall be known as Arrowette, an archer heroine." Suddenly appearing in Cissie's quiver is a number of different types of trick arrows! "I gift you with trick arrows to assist you in your endeavors, as well as the diagrams in learning how to make them yourself. Use them wisely young heroine." The gem then is a blur as it spins. "Bart Allen, the blood of the Flash's. For you, I shall give you an opportunity. A sentinel object much like myself once was is sorely abused but its current master. I shall summon it, and give you a chance to provide it with a new home. It was created by those of New Genesis, known as the New Gods." Suddenly, a red three-wheeled all-terrain conveyance appears by Bart. "Wow Bart, you get a Super-Cycle!" Superboy so dubs it so. Suddenly, the gem returns to twirling very slowly as it watches and listens. Looking humbled, Cissie nods and smiles, actually letting the tears fall this time, not caring if her friends see her do so as they're ones of happiness. "Thank you." She looks at Bart and Superboy, happy for them as well, and each one gets a crushing hug from the girl. "Now we can really do it, guys. We can be heroes and Superboy! We get to go to school together... oh, Conner, I mean. Going to have to get used to that." To say today has been a good day would be an understatement. It's been, in a word, awesome! "Cool!" Bart says, zwipping over to the cycle and then back in time to get hugged by Cissie. "Hey wait," he adds belatedly. "Why a SUPER-Cycle? I'm not a SUPER! I'm..." but he trails off, realizing that the "Trainee Trike" sounds even worse. "Oh, yeah. I don't really know what else to call it." He rubs his chin thoughtfully, oblivious to the joy his friends are feeling at the chance to share school-lives. The moment is short-lived, however, because the newly named Super-Cycle abruptly lights up and rumbles to life. It leaps forward, and Superboy is forced to whisk Cissie -- now Arrowette, by virtue of mystic decree -- into his arms so they end up sprawled in the seat rather than smashed into the front. Bart, for his part, scrambles around the side and hops on of his own volition. Then, a strange, vaguely Knight Rider voice emits from the main console. "Hold on." "Did it just say to...?" But before anyone can finish that question, there's a massive rumbling sound, and reality seems to split wide open, as a sort of tunnel forms around them. Then, with a skull-knocking *BOOM*, they vanish away from that place, catapulted across time and space to, well... who knows where, next? Category:Logs